The travel and tourism industry is constantly changing, with the Internet changing the role of travel agents, and offering travelers the opportunity the opportunity to share hotel and restaurant reviews directly with one another. This makes the study of travel and tourism a fast-paced and exciting proposition, if you can find creative ways to fund your studies. Like most majors these days, people seeking degrees in travel and tourism need to look for scholarships to help defray some of the costs of attending school.
Travel and tourism scholarships are popular amongst the many travel and tourism associations across the United States.
What better way to prepare travel and tourism professionals for successful careers than to offer scholarships on the undergraduate and graduate level?
More specifically, scholarships for travel by state and/or region are available to students with an interest in remaining in their home state to promote its beauty and landmarks. Some states, like Alaska, will award up to $5,000 to Alaskan students interested in travel-related careers in the their home state through the Alaska Travel Industry Association Foundation.
Other travel and tourism scholarships are regional, or even national. Tourism Cares (www.tourismcares.org) is a national tourism organization with a large portfolio of hospitality, travel and tourism scholarships for students in North America. The awards range from $1,000 – $10,000 and are granted by state, or for specific studies (like sustainable tourism or graduate research). The Tourism Cares website lists these scholarships, and provides information about scholarships that are granted by select universities.
Not all travel scholarships are earmarked for tourism careers. Students interested in studying transportation (think railroads and airplanes) have plenty of scholarship options as well. The American Association of Railroads, for example, offers a scholarship to currently enrolled students with an interest in railroad transportation. And for this scholarship, you aren’t even required to declare a transportation major (but it is recommended).
There are many more travel and transportation scholarships out there. Keep checking back with the Student Scholarship Search pages as we add more scholarship profiles to help you pay for college.